Mohammad-Javad Saket, head of market research at the National
Petrochemical Company’s planning and development division, said exporters
require more than production capacity. They must also invest in industrial
planning, technological learning and regulatory oversight, he wrote.
Saket highlighted the role of export management companies (EMCs),
which operate as export arms for multiple manufacturers, especially firms
lacking their own international sales units. He said EMCs typically conduct
foreign market studies, identify buyers, manage branding and marketing, and
handle logistics, customs procedures, financing and credit-risk management.
According to Saket, EMCs generally fall into three categories:
export-sales agents that aggregate demand while leaving risk and invoicing with
producers; buy-and-sell distributors that assume pricing authority and
commercial risk; and consultants that provide marketing and documentation
services without taking ownership of the product.
He said global producers, particularly in commodity segments,
increasingly rely on integrated commercial strategies that extend beyond price
competition. These include risk-sharing mechanisms, political and economic
cooperation agreements, and joint production or investment structures.
Iran’s petrochemical sector, despite having trading arms within major
holding groups, still lacks fully integrated commercial planning at the
industry level, Saket said. He argued that the gap could be addressed through
coordinated trade strategies aligned with the country’s foreign-policy
priorities and by establishing clear regulatory tools to support long-term
market positioning.